To The Honorable Barack Obama 25 Dec 2009 President U.S.A.

My name is Hermogenes Marrero. Sgt US Marine Corps Ret. I and thousands of Veterans and Disenfranchised U.S. American Citizens on the Island municipality of Vieques Puerto Rico are concern or belief that as a result of more than six decades of bombing. Rates of serious illnesses among Viequenses, including cancer, hypertension and diabetes, far exceed those on the main island of Puerto Rico, and our Adverse Health Effect are all related to longevity Exposure to Toxicity of Heavy Metal used in Weapons System and the Intentional Exposure to Biological/Chemical and possibly Radioactive Agents. I joined the Marine Corps October 1969 and I was trained in and performed the following duties: Reconnaissance Marine, Proof Technician (Ordnance Testing) Military Policeman, Combat Intelligence, Chemical/Biological Weapons Instructor, Base Security Provider and Weapons Facilities Guard. On or about 3, July 1970 I arrived on the Island of Vieques, Puerto Rico 21.5 x 4.2 miles (Point of Exposure to Contaminated Environmental Medium Air, Water, Food or Soil).and was assigned to the (Receptor Population). The US Marine Corps Special Guard Unit at Camp Garcia. My main task while in Vieques was to guard the Department of the Navy cold-war weapons systems and Hazardous Material/ Chemical and Biological Weapons Magazine’s. And so-called chemical “laboratories” in Vieques. I have first-hand knowledge about the presence and use of Chemical and Biological Weapons on the Island of Vieques Puerto. As a member of Special Operations Command/Marine Security Guard Battalion U.S. State Department. My Mission at Camp Garcia Vieques, Island Puerto Rico was provide security services to selected Department of State Foreign Service Post to Prevent the Compromise of Classified Material and Equipment and to Provide Protection for United States Citizens and United States Government Property But that was 40 years ago. Sir Time is running out on me and fellow Veterans and American Citizens who Honorably Served our Nation, I would appreciate your assurance that you will support and Secure, Defend and maintain these core principles upon which our Nation’s Freedom Depend “The Cold War American Veterans” And the United State Citizens of the Island of Vieques Puerto Rico USA. Need Your Help.

What you do to the earth you do to the people.

“Mother Earth is not a resource but, rather, the source of life itself.”

The earth is a miracle that sustains all life. It is our only home. It has been damaged by Industrialization, ignorance, and cultural and economic systems that see the physical environment as a resource to be exploited and plundered, rather than as a source. Wars, preparations for war, and routine military training have severe long-term environmental consequences and serious effects on human health.

Militaries create the greatest environmental damage world wide. In the name of national security, military operations are carried out in secret, with the imperative of “readiness” for war, and with immunity from much environmental regulation and control. Like cases of industrial pollution, proof of causality is difficult to establish and the Burden of proof is on those harmed. Dealing with military contamination is even more difficult than dealing with industrial contamination. Governments, military authorities, and many ordinary people apparently accept environmental destruction caused by military operations as a necessary evil, one of many forms of Collateral damage, and ultimately justifiable under the ever-shifting rubric of “national security”. Many affected communities are piecing together evidence, pressing for clean-up, and attempting to improve the health of people affected, including those who served in the armed forces. Their determination, courage, and vision are inspiring and give hope. Professional experts, national organizations, reporters, filmmakers, and artists are also active in this process. Standards of “safety” for environmental contaminants are guesstimates, at best, calculated according to abstract notions of “tolerable risk”. Policies and mechanisms for Cleanup of military contamination and compensation for injury are totally inadequate, if they exist at all. Emphasizing the environmental harm caused by militarism shows the fundamental contradiction between so-called military security and environmental security. Those working for the clean up of military contaminants are in a significant place to generate new understandings of security, or to uphold traditional commitments to wholeness and sustainability. These include a land ethics for genuine security.
When is war over?

Toxic Timeline what is known currently about the effects of military Contamination on the environment and people’s health? What has healed? How has it healed? What has not healed? What is likely to happen in each Case? What is needed by way of knowledge, perspective, political will, as well as technical, medical, social, and financial resources in each case?

What has been learned?

60+ years 1945, Atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.
1945, Destruction of crop land: Battle of Okinawa, Japan.
50+ years 1950s, atomic testing, USA, Marshall Islands.
1950-53, Destruction of cropland: Korean War. Bombing training Maehyangri, Korea.
40+ years 1960s, Nuclear Testing, Nevada; uranium mining: New Mexico.
40+ years 1960-2000, Biological and Chemical, Defoliants: Cold War, Vietnam War 1973, routine Contamination of land and water: Hunters’ Point
Shipyard closed.
25+ years 1980s, landmines, Cambodia
20+ years 1980s, Destruction of crop land through civil war, El Salvador and Guatemala.
15+ years 1992, routine contamination of land and water: closure of U.S. Bases in the Philippines 1991, depleted uranium: Persian Gulf War Bombed oil fields/oil fires: Kuwait Late 1990s, depleted uranium: Kosovo Nuclear testing: Mururoa, French Polynesia 5+ years bombing Afghanistan and Iraq Defoliants: Colombia.

Who is involved?

Many thousands of people are working on these issues worldwide. For some, this is a part of their job. They make sure that funds are allocated for research projects, those problems are not pushed under the rug, that information is made public, and that the right decisions get made. Others volunteer their time, professional expertise, artistic talents, and media Savvy and contacts to community organizations and activist efforts. Most of those Involved are ordinary people from affected communities like Vieques. Some are involved against their Will – the unfortunate victim/veterans/survivors of military contaminants like my self that know the Truth that bears the Scars, who are subjected to repeat denial of Federal Benefits for Veterans and Dependents. also includes: Artists attorneys babies, born and unborn Bloggers chemist’s children community activists Doctor’s ecologists elected officials, Environmental scientist’s epidemiologists Farmers’ filmmakers Families of former military personnel, Grandparents infants interns journalists Judges military officials Nurses radiation experts Regulators (in city, county, state & federal agencies) Researchers organizations (local, national, international) Parents Pediatricians photographers professors Public employees school teachers Student’s teen’s videographers Volunteers whistleblowers Strategies and Actions.

Understanding the Problem

Gathering evidence of military contamination Seeing patterns and piecing the story together from official records (if they exist and are available), news reports, oral histories of former Military; base workers and People who live in the neighborhood; collecting information on illnesses; Estimating the scope of the problem–what are the parameters? The role of experts (public heath, medical, environmental scientists) Difficulties of establishing causation and responsibility—expense, length of time, Controlling for other variables Regulatory framework: international law, conventions on war, laws of the sea, National laws against pollution, Status of Forces Agreements for U.S. Bases and troops overseas.

Pressing for Clean up Organizing.

Who is involved, community leadership, frameworks for activism getting the word out — public education? Rallies, demonstrations, protest Lobbying for official hearings (where expert witnesses and survivors testify); for changes in law and policy, and to get regulations enforced.
What the demands are for clean up?
From Governments?
From those who Committed the damage?
Assessing the scope and effectiveness of policies and mechanisms for Clean-up of military contamination and compensation for injury.
Community-based initiatives enlist support from filmmakers, videographers, and photographers to record issues and organizing efforts; circulating films and exhibits reclaiming land and water directly self-health therapies e.g. medicinal plants, food, physical therapy dealing with feelings of anger, betrayal, stress, hopelessness, and mourning getting community access to sites (e.g. to protect cultural sites and graves, undertake community observation of live-firing exercises, hold prayers and ceremonies)
Caring for victims/survivors, and for siblings and families of survivors Bringing survivors together regional and international networking Putting out a different vision — a future of health, sustainability and Genuine security New policies declaring nuclear-free zones (cities, Counties, nations). Creating a memorial, museum, Peace Park Passing laws and making policies to deal with military contamination.

Support for research.

Dr. John Wargo, a Yale professor who studies the effects of toxic exposures on human health, says he believes that people on the island are sick because of the Navy’s bombing range. Vieques PR. is probably one of the most highly contaminated sites in the world.

Dr. John Wargo “Vieques, in my experience of studying toxic substances, is probably one of the most highly contaminated sites in the world,” he said. “This results from the longevity of the chemical release, the bombs, the artillery shells, chemical weapons, biological weapons, fuels, diesel fuels, jet fuels, flame retardants. These have all been released on the island, some at great intensity.”
Wargo is the author of a new book, “Green Intelligence,” on how environments and toxic exposure affect human health. He is also expected to testify as an expert witness in the islanders’ lawsuit.
He said the chemicals released by the munitions dropped on Vieques can be dangerous to human health and may well have sickened residents or veterans who served on the island.
“In my own mind, I think the islanders experienced higher levels of exposure to these substances than would be experienced in any other environment,” Wargo said. “In my own belief, I think the illnesses are related to these exposures.”
The effects of those chemicals could include cancer, damage to the nervous, immune and reproductive systems or birth defects, he said.
“This doesn’t prove that the exposures caused those specific illnesses,” Wargo added. “But it’s a pretty convincing story from my perspective.”
Since the Navy left the island, munitions it left behind “continue to leak, particularly from the east end of the island,” Wargo said.
“My concerns are now predominantly what’s happening in the coastal waters, which provide habitat for an array of fish, many species of which are often consumed by the population on the island,” he said.
Scientists from the University of Georgia have documented the extent of the numerous unexploded ordinance and bombs that continue to litter the former bomb site and the surrounding waters. The leftover bombs continue to corrode, leaching dangerously high levels of carcinogens, according to researcher James Porter, associate dean of the university’s Odum School of Ecology.
The Environmental Protection Agency designated parts of Vieques a Superfund toxic site in 2005, requiring the Navy to begin cleaning up its former bombing range. The service identified many thousands of unexploded munitions and set about blowing them up. But the cleanup effort has further outraged some islanders, who fear that more toxic chemicals will be released.
The U.S. government’s response to their lawsuit is to invoke sovereign immunity, arguing that residents have no right to sue it. The government also disputes that the Navy’s activities on Vieques made islanders ill, citing a 2003 study by scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that found no link.
That study, however, has been harshly criticized by numerous scientists, and the CDC is embarking on a new effort to determine whether residents may have been sickened by the contamination from the Navy range.
Asked whether his duty on the island made him sick, Marrero responds, “Of course it did.”
“This is American territory. The people that live here are American,” he said. “You hurt someone; you have to take care of that person. And the government’s just not doing anything about it.

Please Mr. President
THE KING CAN DO NO WRONG
TILL HE WRONGS THE PEOPLE!!!

Help me save these American Lives
Thank you for your Service & Sacrifice to our
Country
God Bless America

Hermogenes Marrero 2550357 Sgt USMC Ret.
Relevant time period/place: 1970-1972
Camp Garcia, Vieques Island Puerto Rico.